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Moonbeam
Moonbeam is an artifact-level unique magical weapon in the World of Shaston. Appearance Moonbeam typically appears as a bastard sword, making her larger and heaver than a standard longsword but still light and balanced enough to be wielded with one hand if desired. She has the ability to convert herself into a greatspear through a combination of mechanical and magical enhancements. When she does so, the guard and pommel of the sword rotate slightly in opposite directions and the grip expands or contracts as necessary. The greatspear form is much heavier, requiring use of both hands lest the wielder find themselves extremely off-balance. The grip of the sword is a crimson red in color and designed to appear as leather wrapped around the hilt, although it is actually made of steel. The pommel is gold in color and shaped like a downward-facing crescent moon, intended to look like it is roughly carved out of stone, much like the actual moon. The hilt is also gold and shaped like an upward-facing U, with the tips of the U curving outward and having golden rods inserted into them, also pointed upward. The blade is mostly silver in color, although the edge itself is flecked with gold. The center portion of the blade on both sides is marked with six six-pointed stars. The rest of this center portion is indented and filled in with small pieces of glass. Light is usually seen shining through the glass, coloring it cyan or gold. The scabbard is mostly a dark orange, with some gold designs on it, particularly on the locket and chape. The locket is shaped similarly to the sword's guard, causing the scabbard to not fully cover the blade. Instead, clear glass extends from the locket, covering the blade but allowing some visibility of the sword even when sheathed. Moonbeam can manifest an aspect of herself if she so chooses. This aspect takes the form of translucent cyan image of a young noblewoman wearing a short dress and with shoulder-length hair. The aspect has discernible features but no visible pupils. While manifested, the aspect must maintain a grip on the sword and cannot leave the ground; if the sword flies too high above the ground or the aspect attempts to let go of the sword, the aspect demanifests. While in combat, the aspect cannot manifest for more than a brief second at a time, but when she does she can be observed that she holds Moonbeam with two hands while fighting. The aspect cannot speak, but can read and understand Common speech, and can communicate simple thoughts through gestures or more complex ideas through Signing. Lore and History Moonbeam has two different origin stories, depending on the source used. According to one version of the story, Moonbeam was created by the goddess Selûne as a weapon to be used by a great hero. Priests of Selûne were tasked with keeping her location a secret until they found one or a group they thought to be worthy of her. The potential wielder(s) would then have to pass multiple tests, culminating in a confrontation with the sword herself. The sword would propose a challenge of her own to the potential wielder(s), testing their personality rather than their skills. This version of Moonbeam's origin was particularly popular in Thyrigen, where Selûne's grand temple was located. In 1535, Elysia Pale, the then High Priestess of Selûne, found a group of potential wielders in the Cultbusters. They managed to pass her test of taking down the Cult of the Unliving and were told the location of the Temple of the Moon. They eventually traveled there and passed all of the tests, and Moonbeam went to Larknyxtryxiath Thurgrundir. During his time with the sword, Larknyxtryxiath visited the Ronriki library and attempted to learn Signing by checking out a book on the subject. Unfortunately, Larknyxtryxiath died at the conclusion of the Death Crisis. To most in Thyrigen, it is unknown what happened to Moonbeam after this event. Moonbeam's other origin story is more accurate, albeit less detailed. According to it, Moonbeam was created by the Ultimate Spirit in order to be used as one of their personal weapons, alongside Crescent Sun. It is unknown exactly how she came to be at the Temple of the Moon or how her other origin was propagated, but after the Death Crisis she returned to her original owner and has remained with them since. Personality and Relationships Moonbeam is a sentient weapon, and as such possesses a personality of her own. This personality is easier to see when she is manifesting her aspect, although the sword may also occasionally pull off flourishes or other maneuvers as an alternative form of expression. Moonbeam is a generally kind-hearted spirit, treating most people as a friendly acquaintance until given a reason to do otherwise. She is curious about the world and, given the opportunity to wander, enjoys exploring and interacting with people. She finds the antics of people, particularly regarding how they treat her, very amusing, and if given the opportunity enjoys people watching and simply seeing how people react to her and their situations. However, she is also very professional when it comes to her job: combat. Moonbeam is extremely skilled in combat, particularly defensive dueling. When fighting, she becomes extremely focused and formal, offering a polite bow before preplanned duels and putting all of her effort into the fight regardless. Although it's not clear in the heat of the moment, she greatly enjoys combat; perhaps because it is what she was designed to do. Moonbeam is fiercely loyal towards her current wielder, be that her true master or someone else, and as such will do whatever it takes to defend them and follow their orders, both in and out of combat. That said, she does have a code of morality, and will refuse to do anything or be used to do anything she thinks is morally objectionable. While she is willing to do some menial tasks, she prefers to be seen as a companion rather than a servant, and will protest if she feels she is being slighted. Powers and Abilities Moonbeam's chief ability is her ability to fly and control herself. Much like a dancing weapon, Moonbeam is able to move and participate in combat without being wielded by someone, but without the time limit most dancing weapons possess. When outside of combat, Moonbeam is still able to move itself around and interact with the world around herself; however, she struggles to do certain tasks, as her aspect cannot interact with the physical world - only the sword itself can. Moonbeam's blade is extremely durable and sharp, seemingly never requiring sharpening or other maintenance. It is rumored that one with a strong enough will could use Moonbeam to cut through feasibly anything, although this is not confirmed. What is known is that Moonbeam can be used to totally block and absorb potentially deadly attacks provided one has the skill and timing necessary or is willing to let her do it herself. Traits and Statistics +5 Magical Weapon You get a +5 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with Moonbeam. This weapon counts as magical in terms of resistances and immunities. Personality Moonbeam has a personality of her own. She can respond when given orders both simple and complicated, and if left to her own devices she can also take actions on her own. She can also choose to ignore her owner or actively prevent them from wielding her or completing tasks. Transforming Weapon Moonbeam is able to take on two different forms, and swap between them at the will of her wielder or her own will. Swapping form takes a free action, and can be done between attacks. In order to wield this weapon with proficiency, the wielder must have proficiency with martial weapons; or with longswords, greatswords, or spears, in which case they may only use her in bastard sword (one- or two-handed), bastard sword (two-handed), or greatspear forms, respectively. Bastard Sword One of Moonbeam’s two forms: a long-bladed sword with a long hilt, balanced to be wielded with one or two hands. When wielded with one hand, she deals 1d10 of slashing damage, and with two hands she deals 2d6. she is considered heavy. Greatspear The other of Moonbeam’s two forms: a larger than normal spear. She is considered heavy, is wielded with two hands, and deals 1d12 piercing damage. Dancing Moonbeam is able to fly, switching between two different modes. In one mode, Moonbeam hovers slightly behind the wielder, and is controlled fully by them as a dancing weapon without time limits / grants an extra attack. In this mode, she acts as a one-handed weapon when in sword form. In her other mode, she is fully independent and flies around of her own accord, acting according to her own personality as her own character. In this mode, she acts as a two-handed weapon when in sword form, and has a fly speed of 50 feet. Because of her ability to fly and her personality, she is able to draw and sheathe herself, making these both free actions. She can swap between these modes as a free action when she is with her wielder or within 5 feet of them. Unbreakable Moonbeam is unable to be damaged by any normal means, and is ever sharp. Aspect Moonbeam is able to manifest an aspect of herself if she so chooses. This aspect takes the form of a young noblewoman, who is always holding Moonbeam. In combat, the woman holds Moonbeam with two hands. This aspect cannot physically interact with anything on any plane, although the blade itself can. The aspect is unable to speak, but can convey simple messages through gestures and communicate more complex thoughts using sign language. When manifested during combat, the aspect can only flicker into view for a second or two. The aspect cannot be manifested when Moonbeam is flying higher than the aspect would be able to hold it on the ground, i.e. the aspect cannot fly with Moonbeam. Guard Moonbeam is able to guard her wielder from attacks. Moonbeam can use the parry maneuver as described in the Battle Master section of the Fighter class, with some differences. First, she can parry ranged weapon attacks as well as melee attacks. Second, she uses STR to block STR-based attacks and DEX for DEX-based attacks. Third, she can parry damage even if she is away from her wielder, so long as she is able to reach them in one movement, and she becomes under their control once she does. In addition, when she is in control of her wielder, either with them holding her or with her flying behind them, the wielder is able to use the riposte maneuver. Her superiority die for these maneuvers is a d8, and she gets 3 of them per day. She uses the wielder’s stats when calculating the results of these maneuvers. Perfect Block Moonbeam can expend 3 superiority dice in order to reduce the damage of an attack to 0. This only works if Moonbeam still has 3 dice left, and if the attack being taken is a single target attack. Unlike the ordinary Guard, this does work against magical attacks. Counter If Moonbeam blocks an attack and reduces its damage to 0, either with Guard or Perfect Block, and the attacker is within Moonbeam’s melee range, the attacker takes damage equal to the damage they would have done to the wielder plus Moonbeam’s damage roll. True Master When in the possession of her true master, Moonbeam’s guard, perfect block, and counter abilities are enhanced, and Moonbeam has 10 superiority dice instead of 3. Trivia